Cai Long Yun is a famous martial artist, also the vice chairman of the Chinese
Wushu Association and an associate professor at the Shanghai Sports Academy.
When China implemented its first belt system for wushu, he was one of only three
individuals nationwide who was awarded the ninth, or highest, degree.

Cai Long Yun was
born in 1929 in Ji Ning, Shandong Province. He was the son of the famous martial
artist Cai Gui Qin. Cai Gui Qin was a short and skinny man who does not appear
physically talented. However, he was a great martial artist who was undefeated
in Shandong. He had fists that move as fast as lightning, and was called
"Fist Demon". He was also proficient in long and short weapons. Well
known by martial artists all over the country, he would influence his son
greatly.

During the 1940s, China was in turmoil as a result of foreign invasions. Many
foreigners look down upon the Chinese and their martial arts. The Chinese were
called the "Sick Men of Asia". Many Western boxers challenged Chinese martial
artists to fights. In December 1943, these foreigners spoke of having an
official competition between foreign fighters and Chinese martial artists. This
challenge angered the entire martial arts circle in Shanghai, and a team of
eight fighters, including Wang Zi Ping and Cai Gui Qin, was assembled to fight
the foreigners.

Amongst the Chinese
fighters picked, the youngest was Cai Long Yun, who was only fourteen at the
time. He started practicing martial arts since he was only four. He often
performed exercises at least a hundred times at once, and stayed in stances for
half an hour at a time. When he was nine, he was already proficient in several
styles of martial arts, including Luo Han Quan (Arhat Fist) and Shaolin Feng Mo
Gun (Shaolin Crazed Demon Staff). Later, he traveled to Shanghai, where he
learned various styles of Shaolin kung fu, Xing Yi Quan (Hsing-I Fist), and
Bagua Zhang (Eight Trigrams Palm). He was best in Hua Quan (Hua Fist), the style
practiced by his family for generations.

When Cai Long Yun
told his father he wished to fight against the foreigners, his father was
initially concerned that he was too young, but was eventually won over by his
determination. On 8 December 1943, newspapers in Shanghai began announcing the
upcoming fight. The news was soon all over the city. It wasn't long before all
the tickets were sold. On 13 December 1943, the day of the fight, the sports
stadium where the matches were held was filled with to maximum capacity.

After drawing lots, Cai Long Yun's opponent turned out to be a famous boxer from Russia. Many
doubted that he can stand up to his opponent, who, around thirty years old, was
both older and larger in built. However, Cai Long Yun more than just stood up to
his opponent. Using his Shaolin kung fu and Hua Quan and taking advantage of his
opponent's clumsiness, Cai knocked down his opponent thirteen times in just two
and a half rounds, or less than five minutes. Towards the end of the third
round, the Russian gathered all of his remaining strength and threw a sudden
punch at Cai's forehead. Cai Long Yun was long prepared for this and, ducking,
threw a kick at his opponent's abdomen. It was knockout. The Chinese martial
artists won the competition with five wins, two losses, and one tie. Cai Long
Yun's nickname was "Da Long", which means "Big Dragon".
After the fight, he would be known as the "Big Dragon with Magical
Fists".

Later, his Russian
opponent claimed that the fight was not fair since Western boxing does not allow
the use of legs, although this was not one of the rules under which they fought.
He challenged Cai Long Yun to another fight, this time without the use of legs.
Cai readily accepted. Three years, the Russian found an African American
heavyweight boxer to fight Cai. Cai Long Yun had been practicing throughout the
course of the three years, and had improved even more in his martial arts
skills. He again used Shaolin kung fu and Hua Quan, but this time only the fist
movements of the styles, to defeat his opponent.

In 1953, Cai Long
Yun represented Northeast China in a national sports competition, and won gold
with his Hua Quan, Emei Dao (Emei Saber), and Hua Quan dui lian (simulated
combat). In 1954 he joined the national wushu team, and later became the head of
the team. From 1957 to 1960, he joined many other researchers in organizing the
material regarding wushu, and later helped write the first set of rules for
modern wushu competitions. He started writing books on the use of various types
of weapons, and did research on the martial arts of various regions. In 1960, he
became the head of the wushu teaching and research section of the Shanghai
Sports Academy, and also became an associate professor there in 1978. He had
also become a judge in wushu competitions. In terms of martial arts theory, his
books include Hua Quan, Wushu Exercise Basic Training, and Swordsmanship, all
well received by martial artists.